


Aftermath

by GriffinRose



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Can be seen as pre-relationship if you're into that, Comforting Lance, Directly after the last episode, Gen, Hugs, Keith's opinion on what he almost did, Post-Season/Series 04, Season/Series 04 Spoilers, Spoilers, but it's pretty platonic, lance comforts keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 21:00:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12373977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GriffinRose/pseuds/GriffinRose
Summary: SEASON 4 SPOILERS“Keith, man, talk to me,” Lance said. “What’s happening?”“I…” Keith started. He was still struggling to breathe, still struggling to wrap his mind over what almost happened, over the fact that he had to tell them what almost happened. He didn’t want to tell Lance, but Lance was here and Keith was going to lose it in a minute and at least Lance could go get Shiro or Kolivan or something. “I was going to…”“Yeah?”All at once, just like a bandaid. He could do this. “I was going to die.”





	Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> I know there's already a hundred of these things dealing with the aftermath of Keith almost killing himself, but I wanted one where Keith is the one freaked out by what almost happened. And one that didn't end in a love confession/kiss. So tada.

He couldn’t stop shaking, now that everything was over. Now that Lotor had boarded the Castle-Ship and he and the other rebels had docked. His heart still raced, but he wasn’t sure why.

 

They’d won, and they were all miraculously still alive. He was still alive.

 

It wasn’t like he wanted to die. He wanted to take down Lotor and defeat the Empire for good, wanted to try and at least find out what his mother’s name was, wanted to find one place in this universe where he belonged.

 

But he’d been out of options. It was him or everyone, and he couldn’t stand that. He couldn’t let everyone die, couldn’t let Voltron be destroyed. Then everything they’d worked so hard for over the last few months would have been for nothing. The empire would have taken out their entire resistance in one fell swoop, and that would be it for the rest of the universe.

 

His life meant nothing if they lost all of that. And he’d accepted that. He could live with never personally beating the empire or finding his mom. That was okay. It sucked, but it was acceptable. He was calm, piloting towards the shield. Matt’s panicked voice barely registered. There was no reason to panic. Keith would do this. He would die, like Ulaz, like Thace, like Regris, and the mission would continue on. Things would be okay.

 

And then Lotor had shown up and blasted the shield, unintentionally saving Keith, and Keith didn’t know what to think. His calm was shattered.

 

He’d been shaking ever since.

 

Lotor had been cuffed and brought to the dungeons. The paladins and the rebels had all escorted him there. No one seemed to notice Keith didn’t follow. So Keith sat in his ship, hands clenched around the controls, attempting to find that calm again.

 

Because now that he wasn’t about to die, now that his life span jumped back up to at least include the rest of the day, he was left scrambling to fit the knowledge that _he’d almost quiznaking died_. Two more ticks and that would have been it. He’d be stardust.

 

He couldn’t even place why this time was different than any other time he’d almost died. God only knows how often it had happened. All those times he dropped into open space, or was caught in explosions, or ended up in a fight he had no chance of winning, only for someone to come running in at the last second to save him.

 

What was so different about this time?

 

Maybe…maybe it was because this was the only time he’d actually thought he would die? All those other times, he’d been fighting tooth and nail for his life. But he’d had to abandon that instinct in that moment, flying towards the shield. He’d accepted he would actually die. That was what was different.

 

“Keith? Are you still in there?” Lance called up.

 

Keith almost choked on his breath in surprise, and if that wasn’t the weirdest feeling in the world.

 

“Are you hurt or something?” Lance asked.

 

Oh God. The only thing worse than dealing with his thoughts was dealing with everyone else.

 

“Seriously, are you okay?” Lance asked. He grabbed hold of the wing and hauled himself up. “You’re freaking me out here.”

 

 _No no no no no no no no no_ of all people, Keith did not want Lance to see him like this. Lance would never let him live it down. He had to get a grip, had to act like he was fine long enough to get to his room or something.

 

Lance pressed his face to the window.

 

Keith stared at him and swallowed. He was still shaking.

 

Lance drew his brows together. “Dude, you’re white as a sheet. What’s going on?”

 

Keith took a deep breath. It felt like his heart was only racing faster now. He was supposed to be calming down. Why was it getting worse?

 

“Keith?”

 

He should really probably answer Lance, at some point. But what would he even say?

 

“C’mon, open the hatch, you emo loner.”

 

Keith glared halfheartedly at him. Whether it was what Lance intended or not, the insult gave Keith enough presence of mind to lift one trembling hand away from the controls and flip the switch to open the hatch.

 

Lance offered a gentle smile and a hand. “There you are.”

 

The only reason Keith accepted Lance’s help was because he was ninety-five percent sure he wouldn’t have managed to get on the ground by himself without falling flat on his face, not with the way he was still trembling.

 

As it was, gravity still did most of the work. Lance merely controlled the fall so they were on their feet. “Quiznak, are you okay?”

 

Keith’s legs buckled and he sat down on the floor, folding his head between his knees. Lance was right there with him, a hand on his back.

 

“Keith, man, _talk to me_ ,” Lance said. “What’s happening?”

 

“I…” Keith started. He was still struggling to breathe, still struggling to wrap his mind over what almost happened, over the fact that he had to tell them what almost happened. He didn’t want to tell Lance, but Lance was here and Keith was going to lose it in a minute and at least Lance could go get Shiro or Kolivan or something. “I was going to…”

 

“Yeah?”

 

All at once, just like a bandaid. He could do this. “I was going to die.”

 

Lance froze next to him. “It was a close call,” Lance said softly. He rubbed circles on Keith’s back. “I thought we were all going to die, too.”

 

He didn’t get it. “No.” Keith shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. “The shield…we couldn’t take it down. Our lasers weren’t powerful enough. I was going to ram it with my ship. Was about to, when Lotor showed up. I barely pulled back in time.”

 

Lance stilled. “You were going to what?”

 

“I had to,” Keith said. “We didn’t have another option.” He babbled on, outlining everything he’d been thinking at the time, trying to make Lance understand. He wasn’t sure why it was so critically important all of a sudden, or if maybe it wasn’t so much important that Lance understood, but that Keith let the thoughts out of his head.

 

He’d probably never spoken so much to Lance in the entire time he’d known him.

 

Eventually, he runs out of words.

 

He was still hunched in on himself, staring at the ground between his feet. Lance’s hand never left his back.

 

“Oh, Keith,” Lance said. His hand shifted and the other arm wrapped around him. “It’s okay, you’re okay now. You’re alive, it’s over.”

 

Keith knew this. It was what he’d been telling himself since he landed his ship. But hearing someone, anyone, else say it made it finally seem real.

 

He lifted his head just enough to bury it in Lance’s shoulder instead and grabbed onto Lance with a vice hug. Lance kept muttering that he was okay, he was alive, it was over, and his hand moved to run through his hair.

 

When Keith finally stopped trembling, Lance stopped muttered. They didn’t let go of each other yet, though. Keith wasn’t ready to face the rest of the world.

 

“I can’t believe you were going to do that,” Lance said. “Give up your own life for all of ours…”

 

“It would have been worth it,” Keith mumbled.

 

“Maybe,” Lance allowed. “But I’m glad it didn’t come to that. If Lotor does nothing else good in his life, at least he saved you today. However accidentally.”

 

Right. Lotor. That was a thing. A thing that was on their ship.

 

“What was decided about him?” Keith asked. He pulled away from Lance and rubbed his hands over his face.

 

Lance shifted so he sat cross-legged and put his hands in his lap. “They were still talking when I left. Allura had a lot to say. Well, yell, really. And then Matt asked me where you were and I realized you never came down, and considering how single-minded you were about this guy that seemed weird, so I came to check on you, and here we are.”

 

Keith smiled. “Thanks.”

 

“Anytime. You good now, or…”

 

“Better than I was,” Keith allowed. It would probably still take some time to come to grips with what he’d done, and how fast he’d decided to do it. His mind was finally ready to focus on something else, though, so that was a good sign.

 

He pushed himself to his feet. Lance scrambled up next to him.

 

“Good, then we have a Galran prince to interrogate.”

 

Lance threw an arm around his shoulder and led him out of the hanger.

 

Keith took a deep breath. It was time to get back to work.


End file.
